Mayor Larry Jangula said Council and staff are pleased with the results, but recognize there is always room for improvement. “We know we can’t please everyone all of the time,” said Mayor Jangula. “It’s a delicate balance trying to have a positive impact on our community’s quality of life, while at the same time trying not to overburden our residents and businesses with taxation. Overall we’re pleased with the results of this survey and we appreciate the feedback we’ve received.”

Respondents weighed in on this balancing act. When given the choice to increase taxes to expand or maintain services, or cut services to maintain or reduce tax levels, 47 per cent preferred to increase taxes, versus 37 per cent choosing to cut services.

On the topic of value for taxes, 81 per cent felt the city offered either “very good” or “fairly good” value.

78 per cent of respondents were satisfied with Courtenay’s municipal government as a whole, including Council and Administration.

The main “top of mind” issue for respondents was transportation, followed by municipal government services and the economy.

A slight majority, 54 per cent, were happy with traffic management. “This is an area we are working on,” said Mayor Jangula. “The City is in the final stages of a Transportation and Land Use Master Plan process. The final report hasn’t yet been presented to Council, but once it’s complete we will determine the best way to proceed on this issue.”

The survey, administered by Ipsos Reid, is the first of its kind in Courtenay. City Council has not discussed the potential for ongoing future surveys.

300 telephone interviews were conducted with a random selection of Courtenay residents between May 16 and June 9, 2013. Overall results are considered accurate within 5.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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